Secrets
by Athena13
Summary: Continuation of Chance Meetings. Tom and Cassy go undercover to catch a killerThe catch? They have to pose as a married couple
1. Chapter 1

Rating: PG13/NC-17; Strong language, sexual content and violence

Summary: Tom is still smarting from Virginia's betrayal, while Cassy's own relationship with Doctor Brett Mayron has gotten closer. Still smarting from his grievous misjudgment, Tom wonders if his feelings for Cassy are real or a reaction. Before he has a chance to figure it out, he and Cassy are sent undercover - as a married couple.

Disclaimer: Don't own, want to buy them...no profit being made here!

>>>>>  
Do you remember when we used to dance  
And incidence arose from circumstance  
One thing lead to another we were young  
And we would scream together songs unsung  
Asia, Heat of the Moment

>>>>>>  
Prologue

"Someone might see." The dark-haired woman didn't really sound like she was protesting. Nor did her body language support the supposed protest as she closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the King Palm tree's trunk and let him run his hands over her body.

"Isn't that how you like it?" her lover asked, but he obviously knew her predilections because he didn't even pause to hear her response before beginning to slide the straps of her dress off her shoulders to bare her full breasts.

"Mmm," the woman grudgingly agreed as she slid her fingers through his blond hair and not so subtly pressed herself against him.

Her lover obliged and began to press insistent lips over her shoulders as she slid the blue silk dress over her hips and dropped it to the ground around her feet.

"Naughty," he growled against her tan skin as his hands caressed the bit of lace gracing her hips.

"I was hoping you would see them," she gasped as his fingers slid under the lace and began to dance.

No more words were spoken.

Until a pop sounded in the distance.

"Johnny?" Her eyes popped open."Johnny?" She realized she was chilly, no warm body blocked the mild breeze from her naked form. "Oh my God!" She looked down on her lover's prone form, the blood flowing from his back apparent even in the darkness.

>>>>>  
Part 1

R-i-i-n-g

"Don't answer it," Brett said, though he didn't sound like he thought for a moment that Cassy would listen to him.

Cassy didn't bother to respond as she disentangled herself from his embrace and lifted te phone from its cradle. Holding the black, silk sheet over her bare body she greeted the untimely caller.

"It's me. We have a DB at Sandy Palms," Tom Ryan said, referring to the ritziest country club in West Palm Beach.

"Twenty minutes," Cassy said cryptically before hanging up.

"Twenty hmm." Brett's arm slid around Cassy's waist from behind.

"I have to go," Cassy murmured, even as she closed her eyes and dropped her head back against his shoulder.

"All right." Brett's hand began to move rhythmically underneath the sheet.

Cassy's sigh sounded like a purr as she arched her back.

>>>>>>

"What do we have?" Cassy asked Tom and the unknown medical examiner.

"Hello to you too, Cassy." Ivan Jorgen winked at her. "Male, thirty-five, named John Meirie. Long-time member of the club. Single gun-shot to the heart from the back. No exit wound. I'll know more when I get him back to the office."

"Fits the story we got from our witness, a Jenifer Blant, not the DB's wife by the way," Tom filled in.

"Did she see the shooter?" Cassy asked as she slipped on latex gloves.

"Would we be so lucky?" Tom said with the uncharacteristic cynicism he had adopted as of late.

Cassy didn't bother to respond to his rhetorical question and kneeled down and lifted the sheet off the body.

"Where's our witness?" Cassy asked a few minutes later as she was snapping off the gloves.

"Over here," Tom led her to a nearby police car where the woman was sitting with a towel wrapped around her shoulders. A large, older man stood close by.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Blant, I'm Sergeant St. John, this is my partner Sergeant Ryan. May we speak with you for a few moments?" Cassy was studying the woman as she spoke, taking in her disheveled appearance. Tom's comment that the victim was not this woman's husband was fresh in her mind.

"I'm Davis Goldman. My client has already spoken to the police, I would like to take her home now. She's had quite a shock." The elder man was firm despite his southern accent and well-mannered words.

"We understand your client is feeling a bit shaky and needs to get some rest, but here when it happened, but we're with homicide and would like to ask some preliminary questions while her memory is fresh. Then we'll put off the rest of the interview until tomorrow," Tom said courteously.

"Fine, a few minutes and then we'll come back in tomorrow," Davis agreed at his client's nod.

"I didn't see anyone. My...my eyes were closed," Mrs. Blant whispered, her cheeks reddened.

"Did you see anything when you opened your eyes, a shadow? Did John have any enemies or problems you knew about?" Cassy asked.

"No. All I saw was Johnny...lying there. Everyone loved Johnny, no one would want to hurt him," the woman said tearfully.

"Where was your husband Mrs. Blant?" Cassy asked.

"That's enough for now," Davis intervened.

"Are your Mr. or Mrs. Blant's attorney," Cassy demanded.

"My husband was at home with his nurse. He has a heart condition and wasn't feeling well enough to come to the Club tonight," Mrs. Blant spoke over her attorney's protests.

"Thank you Mrs. Blant. We'll come by tomorrow to speak to you and your husband," Cassy told them.

"Good night," Tom nodded and followed Cassy away.

"Wonder if it's a love match," Tom commented sardonically.

"Wonder if he's a jealous man," Cassy said. "Are you going home?"

"I'm going to go check some things out," Tom said.

"It's two in the morning Ryan. Why don't you get some sleep?" Cassy suggested.

"Worried about me?" Tom waggled his eyebrows at her.

"Tired of your grouchiness," Cassy rolled her eyes.

"Ouch. I can't sleep anyway. Might as well get something done. I won't stay long," he said.

"And when I come in and find you asleep at your desk you won't bark at me for waking you?" Cassy asked.

"Fine, fine. I'll go home and try to sleep. I promise," Tom swore in the face of Cassy's suspicious expression.

"Thomas," Cassy pressed her hand on his arm, a worried expression on her face.

"Look Cass, I promised all right. Just go home to your doctor," Tom pulled away and avoided her gaze.

"Good night Tom." Cassy couldn't quite hide the hurt from affecting her tone.

Tom sighed as he watched his partner walk away. Cassy was right to worry, he admitted silently, he needed to get a hold of himself and stop lashing out at the people he cared about just because he had been so wrong about Virginia.

Time was funny, he noted as he got into his convertible Mustang. It had been two months since Key Nuevo and sometimes the pain was so fresh it seemed like just yesterday. While time may not have healed his wounds or doubts in his own judgment, it had given him perspective.

For one thing he was able to admit that his relationship hadn't been all champagne and roses like he liked to believe. For another, his feelings for Cassy weren't as clear cut as he had claimed to her when he had been engaged to Virginia. He was still to distrusting of his own instincts to test those feelings out, besides it was probably too late. Their close call during the Pedron case was more than a clue that she wanted him too, but her relationship with the doctor was still going strong. Very strong if Cassy's almost lighthearted mood lately was anything to go by. In fact, he was beginning to steel himself for a Sunday brunch with an announcement for dessert.

Those were the reasons he couldn't sleep, but if he didn't try he would lose everything else in his life, like his job. Or his car when he crashed it from sheer exhaustion.

Tom turned up the radio for the rest of the ride home.

End Part 1


	2. Chapter 2

Rating: PG13/NC-17; Strong language, sexual content and violence

Part 2  
July 14, 1999: 8 am  
>>>>>>

"You look like shit," Cassy said as she put a cup of french roast coffee down on her partner's desk.

"Gee, your hair smells terrific." Tom looked up from his computer screen long enough to see his partner unload her own cup and put her purse away.

"So what do you got?" she asked.

"Come see," he invited, then waited until she was leaning over his shoulder. "I didn't find anything interesting in our victim's background or our witness. We haven't checked alibis yet, but I wasn't convinced Mr. Blant was our best or only lead. So I dug around a bit."

"You mean like a hunch?" Cassy's breath teased the hair near Tom's ear causing him to shiver. Cassy noticed as she kept her eyes glued to the computer screen.

"Something about this case seemed familiar, sure enough there was another murder at a country club in Palm Springs, California about five years ago. No one was ever arrested. Once they open out there we should contact the investigating officer and see if they had any suspects and if they have any evidence," Tom said, moving over slightly.

"And _this_ case?" Cassy asked.

"Three years ago, Tampa. I called and got a faxed copy of the file," Tom said smugly.

"Bet it was a woman who answered." Cassy leaned on the edge of Tom's desk as she sifted through the papers.

Pressing his lips together Tom refrained from reminding his partner he hated it when she planted herself on the edge of his desk.

"Ah, membership list for the club. We can..."

"Done." Tom held up another sheaf of papers.

"Just how long have you been here?" Cassy's eyes narrowed.

"We also have employee lists," Tom said.

"Not answering huh. So did you find any matches?" she asked.

"St. John, Ryan, my office," Harry barked out.

"Ah, the loving voice of our fearsome leader," Tom said as he followed Cassy.

"You look like shit Ryan," Harry observed.

"We covered that," Cassy said.

"We'll cover it again, later. I've spent the last half hour on the phone with the feds trying to keep jurisdiction on this case. They've agreed that you two are the best candidates." Harry paused dramatically. Tom and Cassy glanced at each other with questioning looks. "You're going undercover," Harry finished.

"Undercover? Where? How?" Cassy asked.

"The Palm Beach Polo and Country Club," Harry said.

"Why? These other murders are years apart and states apart. What makes you think the killer will stay at this club?" Cassy asked.

"No one is going to make a move just yet, not until the investigation dies down. We'll have Reeves and Caine take over the outside investigation while you two go in," Harry said.

"What's our cover? Golf pro and aging jock? Rich widow and bus boy?" Cassy smirked.

"Mr. And Mrs. Ryan, formerly of Palo Alto and seasoned vacationers in Palm Springs," Harry said with a sparkle in his eyes.

"Like, oh my God," Cassy quipped.

"That's the Valley, not the Bay area," Harry said.

"Well, gag me anyway." Cassy shrugged.

"Aging jock, I'll gag you," Tom mumbled under his breath.

>>>>>>

"Oh man, the Grigio Alloy color scheme!" Tom ran his hand over the gleaming red paint on the Ferrari 360 Modena they were borrowing from the fed impound yard.

Cassy let herself smile a bit as she watched her partner gush all over the pretty car. It had been way too long since she had seen him this way. Despite dishing out her expected protests, Cassy agreed with Harry when they were alone that this cover would at least give her the chance to make sure that Tom got some sleep. And maybe bring him back from the dark place he had been stuck in since Virginia. He had done it for her enough times.

"Don't get drool on the paint," Cassy teased.

"I'm driving/" Tom put his hands on hips his and dared her to protest.

"I was just going to call shotgun." Cassy held her hands up.

"Let's go home and pack." Tom, satisfied, turned back to the car.

"Homes, homes and pack so we can go home," Cassy corrected with an expression that was halfway between a grin and a grimace.

"I'll pick you up." Tom waved and hopped into the car and sped off.

"Taking the long way I bet." Cassy smiled indulgently. If this is what it took to make her friend smile like that again she wasn't going to deny him the pleasure.

>>>>>>>

"You'd think they'd spring for a maid with digs like these," Tom grumbled good-naturedly as he helped Cassy clean up the dinner dishes in their temporary abode's spacious kitchen. After the initial awkwardness the team had fallen into a companionable routine by dinner time, with Tom doing most of the cooking and Cassy most of the clean up.

"Yeah, the feds could go undercover with some aprons," Cassy agreed as she dried her hands.

"_Voila_!" Tom said with satisfaction as he pressed the dishwasher on.

"Masterful." Cassy rolled her eyes dramatically at her partner's antics. "How about we finish narrowing these lists over a glass of wine?"

"I'll get wine, you get the files and we'll meet in the den." Tom smiled at her agreeably.

Cassy's steps were lighter as she set about on her task. Today, she decided, was probably one of the best days she and Tom had enjoyed since before he had met Virginia. Gone was moody, morose Tom and in his place was the old amiable Tom she knew and loved, and had missed terribly. She hoped he stuck around. Trying to be the positive light in their partnership was not an easy task, but it had been necessary. Without that counter-balance she had feared her partner might just up and quit the force. Such thoughts hadn't been far from his mind after being fooled by Virginia's con and doubting his abilities as a cop. The tons of cases they had solved before and since hadn't seemed to convince him. It was only at her and Harry's urging that he hadn't given up yet. That and the fact he didn't want to worry his parents more than he already had.

This case might just be the one to remind Tom what a great cop he was. And a great partner.

"So only Mrs. Brandon Webber, nee Alicia Coen, Bob Jost and Andy Pellen were members of the Chicago club at the time of the first murder and are now members here. John Brandon and Mary List were at Tampa and are now here. Not a big list of suspects, shouldn't take too long to narrow it down," Cassy predicted as she slid the pillow carefully into a dark blue case.

"And we agree the best suspect is the tennis pro, Wayne Taylor, who had left employ at the Chicago club a month before the murder and drops off the map until he is hired by a club in Michigan six months later. Mrs. Blant took lessons with him. So did the Chicago vic. He didn't teach at Tampa, but he was in nearby Clearwater. So, how do you feel about taking some tennis lessons?" Tom asked as he stuffed a pillow haphazardly into a case and shook it straight.

"Fine, but I'm better at golf than you are," Cassy reminded him.

"Too bad we won't get to enjoy this luxury for too long," Tom said confidently as he tossed the pillow onto the freshly made bed and ignoring her usual boast. "You know, if we lived like this we probably wouldn't have gotten divorced."

"Choosing sheets was not our only problem and two beds would have made it all fall apart sooner," Cassy said as she placed the pillow onto the bed and smoothed the sheet.

Tom's eyebrows lifted at the implication, before he felt a twist in his gut as he realized that he was doing it again - bringing up their short-lived marriage. With a sigh he carelessly dropped the blanket back onto the freshly made bed.

"Get to bed Ryan. We have a long, athletic day at the Club ahead of us," Cassy finished with an affected accent, hiding her disappointment the moody Tom was back.

"Night Cass," Tom said quietly.

"Sleep well Ryan," Cassy forced a smile.

"You know," she turned back to him when she reached the door. "If you need anything, to talk or whatever, I'm right down the hall."

"I know, thanks Cass." Tom's dark blue eyes communicated his gratitude.

"Anytime," Cassy whispered to herself as she closed the door behind her with a sad look on her face.

>>>>>>

"I'll never even live this nicely, never mind as a home away from home." Tom rubbed his hands together as they contemplated the sheer richness of the country club in which they would be working in for the next few days.

Cassy didn't comment as she acknowledged her partner's relish with a small smile. She had been raised in places like this. These days she occasionally frequented the local clubs as a guest, but had no desire for permanent membership herself despite her mother's repeated offers to pay for it. The image of Tom and her mother Evelyn drinking martinis by the pool popped into her mind and made her feel ill.

Tom felt his partner shrink closer to his side and one glance at her face told him that she was thinking about his dear ex-mother-in-law. He put his arm around her shoulders comfortingly.

Cassy impatiently batted her tennis racket against her leg as they waited for their assigned host to welcome them and show them around.

"Stop it," Tom whispered under his breath as her fidgeting racket bumped his leg

"Sorry." Cassy smiled apologetically up at her partner, taking note of the light shadows under his eyes, signs of tiredness that she knew were caused by the same sleeplessness that awakened her at three a.m. when she heard him roaming through the house. At one point she could swear he had been in her room watching her sleep, but that might have been a dream?

"Mr. and Mrs. Ryan, welcome. I'm Davis, Davis Johnson. I see you are ready for tennis Mrs. Ryan," the older man who looked like he used to be a movie star.

"Please call me Cassy. Yes, I love the game," Cassy said.

"Well, I'll just show you the highlights and feel free to ask for me if you have any questions later," Davis smiled congenially.

"Your wife is very attractive," a brunette woman, who was not unattractive herself and about the same age as "the Ryans," said to Tom as he sat on the outdoor patio and watched the tennis games in progress.

"Yes, she is," Tom agreed, turning his gaze away from the lesson. "Tom Ryan. My wife is Cassy."

"Meghan Blum. Davis told me I should meet you two. I'm not big on tennis, but Davis says that you both play golf. My boyfriend Andy and I play. We have a great tee time tomorrow morning and our partners canceled last minute if you care to fill in?".

"I'm sure Cassy would love to," Tom agreed.

"Andy Pellen is his name, by the way. He'll be meeting me here for dinner later. If you and your wife are still around I'll introduce you," she said.

"I'm sure we will be. We hear the chef is fantastic," Tom tried to sound sophisticated.

"Yes. It was quite a coup to lure him here from Miami," she agreed. "I'll see you later then."

Tom waved at the departing woman and looked over to catch Cassy's smile of satisfaction as their coup. Meghan was dating one of their prime suspects and Tom knew that the canceling golf partners were Mr. and Mrs. Blant. Meanwhile, Cassy was playing with their tennis pro suspect. Turning from the game, he scanned the crowd looking for the faces that matched the pictures the feds had supplied.

Not seeing anyone yet, he raised his hand to call over a waiter knowing he'd better take advantage of the luxury while he could. Then he'd go check out the work out room and then for a swim with Cass.

>>>>>>

"It has been a long time," Tom remarked as his "glistening" partner joined him outside the workout room.

"I had to make it look like I needed lessons." Cassy scowled as she took Tom's lemonade.

"Sure," Tom smirked as he watched her take a long drag of the citrus drink.

"Ready for a swim?" she asked a minute later.

"Yeah...what, too sore?" Tom asked as Cassy sucked in a breath.

"Over there, coming out of the locker room. That's one of the doctors Brett works with," she explained. "He knows me."

"Oh," Tom's forehead furrowed.

"Let's get out of here." She waved Tom over to block her from view.

"So how did Doc Brett take the news of this assignment anyway?" Tom asked as he quickly walked with her around a corner.

"I haven't exactly told him yet," Cassy admitted.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked.

"Brett was on duty until early this morning. I'll call him later and tell him," she said.

"And how will the Doc react to finding out that you're married to your partner after all?" he asked.

"We're not married and he's a professional. He understands the demands of a career," she corrected him with an arched brow. "What we need to worry about is not blowing our cover. We should have been brother and sister."

"None of the attacks have been on women who were cheating on their brothers," Tom remarked dryly.

"I knew this was a bad idea so close to home," Cassy said.

"Just keep looking sexy in that little skirt and we'll be out of here soon enough." Tom pushed his partner towards the women's locker room. "I'll contact Harry and tell him about the Doc's friends and see what he can do."

"So you think I look sexy, huh?" Cassy called back as she sashayed through the door.

"Oh yeah," Tom whispered as he watched her lithe form disappear into the locker room. Then with a frustrated sigh he decided he might as well take a shower too. A cold one.

>>>>>

"Forget the tennis outfit, just walk around in that." Tom whistled as Cassy walked up to her "husband" in the corridor that led from the locker rooms to the pool. Playing the role to the hilt he clasped his hands around her bare waist and pulled her against him. Ignoring her stiffening posture, he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. He knew his ex-wife hated public displays of affection and he planned to milk the cover for all it was worth. He almost lost control, however, when her arms slid around his neck and her lips opened to let his teasing tongue inside.

Knowing she was challenging him, and they were being watched, he steeled himself to not back down. As he tasted her dewy breath the task became lost in fast rising passion.His hands slid up the soft skin of her back and his fingers tangled in the straps of her blue bikini.  
Just as suddenly as she had warmed up, he felt the cool air hitting his body as she pulled away.

"No one is going to believe I'm cheating on you if they see us like that," Cassy said airily as she flipped the towel over her shoulder and turned away. But she didn't turn fast enough for him not to see the blush staining her cheeks.

"Score for Tom Ryan," he said under his breath."Come wifey, let's go swimming," he said loudly as he sped past her.

End Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

Rating: PG13/NC-17; Strong language, sexual content and violence 

Part 3

For her part, Cassy didn't have to put too much effort into the pretense that there was tension between the married couple. Anger, desire, confusion and fear roiled in her breast as she pointedly ignored her "husband" and settled down to sunbathe. Her refusal of his offer to oil her back was as much for the act as it was for her own all too real self-protection. That stunt in the corridor did to her that thing she hated most, it made her feel out of control.

What about Brett? If she had been asked twenty-four hours ago she would have said she was in love with the man. He was smart, successful, funny, secure, and charming. Everything she had always looked for in a man. Her "perfect man" Yet, all Tom had to do was touch her once and she was a quivering mass. Guilt joined the crowd of emotions trespassing on her normally ordered mind.

Just like back in April.

Or New Year's Eve.

Her body began to burn with the memory. That one stolen night with Tom had done more to hurt her equilibrium than perhaps their entire past relationship. Still, she had found the strength to walk away before anyone got really hurt, again. For weeks afterwards, until he had met Virginia, she had seen the look of confused pain in his eyes that told her that Tom didn't understand why she had left, he never had. Not really. He agreed they argued too much, got on each other's nerves, didn't spend enough time together and were too competitive, yet he didn't believe that ending it before they hated each other forever was the answer. How could he not understand that she couldn't live without him in her life?

Cassy's angry glare and refusal to talk with him was right on schedule as far as Tom was concerned. It was even comforting. Satisfied with himself Tom uncurled his lean body and lay back on the sun chair.Cassy might well be wondering what he was thinking and if she cared to ask he would finally have a clear answer for her. For months, since before New Year's Eve, if he was honest, he had been struggling with his feelings for his ex-wife and partner. After years of excuses and half-assed explanations he had actually managed to convince himself that a platonic and professional relationship with Cassandra St. John would be enough. Then he had been shot and his world had been turned upside down.

He knew the moment he had awakened, even before he found out she had taken on the mob on his behalf, that things between them were far from over.If that wasn't enough, the nurse had found the wedding band under his pillow. The implication was undeniable. Even armed with hard evidence, however, he was still too afraid to broach the subject until a few drinks on New Year's gave him the courage to make a move. A move that had he been sober he would have realized would only serve to scare Cassy off. And she had left him, again.

And he had let her, again.

Before he could finish kicking himself for being a fool or cursing her for her cowardice he met Virginia and Cassy had met her knight-in-a-white-lab-coat.

Now, here they were, playing at husband and wife instead of working at being the real thing, which after watching her sleep last night he finally admitted was what he wanted. Cassy always accused him of being even more stubborn than she was, well Tom know how much she hated to be wrong. This time he wasn't going to let her walk away from him.

"You sure about that lotion? You're going to burn," Tom's words rolled off his tongue and down Cassandra's spine.

"I'm fine," she bit out and turned over onto her stomach to ignore him and keep furtive watch on their fellow sunbathers.

"You are," Tom drawled, biting back a chuckle when he saw her back stiffen.

>>>>>

"You look beautiful," Tom said as Cassy walked into the living room where he was waiting.

"Thank you." Cassy couldn't prevent the flush his compliment caused. She couldn't even be upset about it, she admitted as she smoothed the front of the long yellow dress she was wearing for their dinner at the Club. All day Tom had been casting her admiring glances and showering her with compliments. At first she thought it was part of his husband act, even the kiss she had managed to dismiss into the realm, but now she was coming to realize that her partner had an entirely different agenda. It wasn't the first time he had tried to pay her court. Her cheeks flushed a deeper pink at the memories.

She couldn't believe is that she was being sucked into it again. Especially when they were supposed to be displaying marital problems and she was supposed to allow herself to be seduced by an FBI agent in order to draw out the killer. Then again, if they fell into old patterns, portraying marital discord would be inevitable.

The pressure of Tom's hands on her shoulders pulled Cassy back from her thoughts.

"Hey, pay attention here, we have work to do," Tom said.

"Sorry." Cassy cleared her throat and looked up at her "husband."

"I lost you there for a moment. I asked if I might have this dance," he repeated.

"Dance? That's work?" Cassy's brow furrowed.

"We're a bit out of practice, it might look suspicious," Tom said.

Cassy couldn't fault his logic before he slid his hands down her waist to settle on her hips.

"Where's the music?" Cassy asked, then suddenly strains of "Sometimes" by Britney Spears began to play. "Tom!"

"Best I could do. Besides, it's on the charts, get with it. Besides, it reminds me of you." Tom ignored her protests and took her hand in his and pressed their bodies close together.

"I doubt they're going to be playing today's teen hits," Cassy said through clenched teeth.

"Dance, Cass. Just dance." Tom sighed and pulled her closer.

>>>>>>

"Gee, not one single strain of Britney Spears," Cassy noted as she and Tom entered the dining room.

"How come you knew who was singing?" Tom asked as he walked behind her to their assigned table.

"You make marital discord so easy," Cassy snapped under her breath as he held her chair.

"Part of my charm," Tom said as he took his seat beside her before turning his attention to meeting and greeting their dining companions. Meghan Blum and her beau, and their suspect, Andy Pellen were among them.

"Did Tom ask you about tomorrow morning?" Meghan who was seated next to Tom asked.

"Golf, yes. Thank you so much for inviting us," Cassy said as she draped the napkin in her lap and then picked up Tom's and dropped in his.

"So how long have you two been married?" Andy leaned around his girlfriend to ask.

"Two years," Cassy gave their prepared answer, not bothering to smother her grimace when Tom slid his hand onto her leg.

"Two wonderful years," Tom chimed in and pressed a kiss to her temple.

"Just wonderful," Cassy said sweetly as Tom's hand burned into her bare thigh. She was going to kill him. She was going to make him stand behind the borrowed car her loved so much and run him over.

"How long have you two been together?" Cassy asked after she had shed herself of Tom's groping hand under the guise of picking up the napkin he had knocked to the floor.

"Not quite that long, but five wonderful months," Meghan said.

'The blush of first love," Cassy said.

"We've both been married before, to other people. We know how hard it can be if you take the relationship for granted," Andy said.

"Amen," another gentleman at their table chimed in.

Tom and Cassy knew that Andy had been married back in Chicago. The department was looking for information about Meghan in case she knew something. Cassy looked around for their other suspects as Tom continued to draw out their golfing partners.

"I saw you playing tennis today, dear," an older woman who introduced herself as Marion Swanson said.

"Yes, it's been a while, though," Cassy admitted.

"Wayne is such a wonderful teacher. He's very patient," Marion continued.

"Yes, he is," Cassy agreed sweetly.

"We've played with im for years, Max and I," Marion tapped her husband's arm. Her husband, smiled briefly at Cassy before turning back to buttering his bun.

"I thought he was only here for a short while," Cassy said.

"Yes, yes. We used to play with him in Clearwater. Then we found him here. I was so pleased," Marion said.

Something niggled in the back of Cassy's mind.

"It's a shame really," the woman was saying. "That poor child moving around so much."

"Child?" Cassy asked, the question echoing in her head. They didn't have a record of a child.

"His son, the sweet boy. He's about nineteen now I should think. Wayne's wife ran off when the boy was young and Wayne's had to move him around from place to place, the nature of his work. He sometimes helps out around here. Not a bad tennis player himself," she explained.

"Yes, stability is so important for a child," Cassy murmured absently.

"Do you plan to have children?" Marion asked.

Cassy was too shocked by the question itself to be shocked by its intrusiveness.

"We've talked about it," Tom answered for them.

Cassy looked over at Tom, her heart inexplicably pounding. Yes, they had talked about having children. A long time ago. His eyes caught hers and she wasn't surprised to see the deep yearning shining from his dark eyes.

It was the answering pang that surprised her.

End Part 3


	4. Chapter 4

Rating: PG13/NC-17; Strong language, sexual content and violence 

Part 4

"Let's dance," Tom asked Cassy before she had time to process the fluttering in her stomach. Dumbly, she let him take her hand and excuse them from the table.

"About what she said," she began, intending to forestall any discussion of their alleged desire to have children.

"I know, I never saw anything about a kid either. I'm going to sneak off and call Harry and leave him a message to do a deeper check on this tennis pro in the morning," Tom interrupted.

"Good idea," Cassy said over the pounding of her heart and the music.

"Meet you at the table." Tom cut their dance short and walked off, as if they had a fight.

Cassy didn't feel like going back to the table and since there were other suspects who weren't at their table for her to meet she decided to take advantage of the opportunity. She took a circuitous route to the door out to the gardens intending to catch the attention of some of the women she had met earlier that day and garner some introductions.

>>>>>>

"How do these people do that day after day?" Tom asked as he jerked off his tie and tossed it over his shoulder where it landed in a pile of silk behind his seat.

"I'm sure they'd say the same thing about us," Cassy said primly, even as she toed off her shoes and let them lay carelessly before her sore feet. Closing her eyes she leaned her head back against the seat, once again grateful she had given in without an argument and let Tom drive the car. Not that she didn't plan to have a little fun with it before they had to return it.

"Think of it as a working vacation," she advised.

"If I did that, I'd never get the case solved," Tom said, his voice husky.

Cassy's eyes flew open as she felt Tom's finger trace down the length of her leg. When she looked, however, his hand was firmly on the stick shift and he was driving the powerful car away from the valet stand and out of the circular driveway. He looked completely unaware of what he had done.

It was a tight fit, he could have just been shifting, she surmised. She turned and looked out her window into the inky darkness. She was wide awake now.Without even being aware of it, she sighed into the quiet car, betraying her muddled thoughts.

If she and Tom were really a married couple and on vacation, she thought feverishly, he wouldn't have left her chilly and alone on that dance floor. He would have been holding her tightly against him and whispering sweet nothings in her ear. Like he had in the house before they had left for the evening. It was almost eery how much of this cover was reminding her of their actual marriage.

"Let's take advantage of that pool while we can, how about a midnight swim?" Tom asked.

"Might as well, I'm wide awake," Cassy said and stretched her legs the best she could in the small car.

"Must be the car, you looked all done in when we finally left the party," Tom drawled, casting a questioning glance at her.

"Just wanted to get out of there, our friends didn't seem to be leaving," Cassy lied.

"Hmmm." Tom shifted, his hand brushing against her thigh again.

Cassy felt a flush on her cheeks as Tom caught her gaze. Quickly, she looked away.What she didn't do, however, was attempt to move over in her seat.

>>>>>>

Cassy opened her eyes and for a moment was uncertain where she was. She looked over at the other side of the bed and quickly closed her eyes. Breathing through her nose she tossed back the bed coverings and planted her bare feet onto the carpeted floor. Opening her eyes she walked over to the glass doors and looked out at the ocean view beyond the pool. She opened the door and let the moist breeze slide over her skin and through her hair.

Feeling more awake and in control of her self she let her eyes drift down to the clear blue pool.

Last night after a tense ride home, at least for her, she and Tom agreed to take a midnight swim. It wasn't often they had the luxury and she knew she wouldn't get any sleep unless she worked herself tired. Clad in a prim one piece bathing suit of shiny yellow she had dived into the pool without a word to her waiting "husband." For the next half an hour or so she and Tom had enjoyed an unexpectedly _fun_ time playing in the water together.

Suddenly, her heart began to race as she remembered her dream.

All the touching she and Tom had done in the pool, all under the guise of fun had left her hotter than she had been before diving under the cool water. A few times she was sure that he had been about to kiss her, other times that his hands brushing over her hadn't been an accident. She hadn't had the courage to call him on it. What would she have done if he confirmed the desire they both felt?

In real life, she and Tom had parted amiably at her bedroom door. In her dream they didn't make it inside the house before peeling the wet bathing suits from each other's bodies.

No, in the dream when her hand slid down his firm, wet chest and he grasped her fingers he didn't push and try and dunk her, but rather pressed it against his pounding heart and sent her "the smoldering look" that had always made her weak in the knees. Drawn in by his gaze she moved forward against the waves they had created and pressed her lithe form against his broad one. And then his hand cupped her...

"Stop it!" she commanded herself and turned determinedly towards the shower. They had a tee off time with their new friends and suspects in less than an hour.

>>>>>>

Tom was awakened by the sound of a door slamming.

"Ah, my lovely wife is awake!" he exclaimed as he bounded out of the bed he was disappointedly occupying, alone. Tom took a moment to enjoy the lovely view out his windows, the pool and ocean beyond. Stretching his arms over his head he let out an energetic yawn. He hadn't slept this well in months. He wasn't even going to try and pretend it was the laps he had done last night before Cassy had come down wearing that knock-out bathing suit that caused his welcome full night of sleep. No sense in pretending that it wasn't his decision to make this pretense of being husband and wife real. Or that his slow seduction wasn't producing sparks.

Nope, no sense in continuing this stupid self-denial that he had forced himself to live with since their divorce had been finalized, before they even had a chance to be married. The first year of marriage is the hardest all his friends told him, he hadn't believed it until it was too late. By the time he realized what had happened Cassy had run off in fear of doing irreversible damage to their relationship and he had let her. But surely they had proven their relationship could weather the worst storms. It was time they weathered them together.

Whistling, Tom stripped off his clothes and picked up a bathing suit.

>>>>>

"Yes, Harry. No, Harry. We met most of them last night. Nothing yet. Fine, I'll tell him," Cassy pressed the kitchen phone off and put it on the counter as she filled her mug with freshly brewed coffee. Relishing a sip, she didn't turn around as the sliding glass door opened behind her.

"Smells good. Nice outfit," Tom remarked as rubbed a towel over his chest and took in his "wife's" very short golf outfit.

"You're dripping all over the floor!" Cassy exclaimed as she turned around and took in Tom wearing nothing but swimming trunks and water. He was indeed making a wet path to the coffee machine.

"What are you worried about? You don't have to clean it up," Tom said, undisturbed, as he dropped the towel on the floor and poured himself a cup of coffee and resumed his humming.

"Still." Cassy scowled at him.

"Aw, come on Mom," Tom put his mug down on the tiled counter and swept Cassy into his arms. He grabbed her coffee mug and put it down before he began to hum loudly and twirl her around the kitchen.

"Tom!" Cassy exclaimed.

"Yessss," Tom drawled as he dipped her and looked into her blazing eyes. Cassy's hands were braced on his bare, muscled back.

"You're getting me all wet!" she said.

"Am I?" Tom whispered loudly into her ear before swinging her up and letting her go.

Cassy's cheeks were flushed as she tried to salvage her white outfit.

"Wet t-shirt contest." Tom waggled his eyebrows as he picked up his coffee.

"It's not funny!" Cassy exclaimed.

"That's because you refuse to have a sense of humor," Tom shot over his shoulder as he walked out of the room.

Cassy put her hands on her hips as she watched him saunter out, her face torn between a scowl and smile. Finally, the smile won and with a shake of her head she picked her coffee up and took a gulp of her hot drink.

End Part 4


	5. Chapter 5

Rating: PG13/NC-17; Strong language, sexual content and violence 

Part 5

"Stop gloating." Tom blew a lock of sweaty hair off his forehead, or at least he tried. With a jerky movement he brushed the hair away with his hand.

"I didn't say a word." Cassy waved a spoonful of melon as she spoke, before putting it into her mouth and savoring the tangy and refreshing food.

"You were about to," he growled into his cold drink.

Cassy shrugged and feigned deep interest in her plate as she lamely attempted to hide her grin.

The "couple" was sitting on the outdoor terrace in the late afternoon resting after a day filled with activities with their new "friends." More accurately, they were former suspects, if what had been said was true as it gave them an airtight alibi.

"And don't tell me I'm getting old!" he said.

"Boy, are you defensive." She dropped her spoon and rested her chin on her hands and studied his face.

"I know you!" he pointed at her.

"I told you I'm better than you at golf..." she began.

"And tennis. And swimming." He sighed and slumped down in his seat and closed his eyes.

"I bet if we ran you'd win," she offered.

"At least we've now met everyone on our list," he said quietly. "Not that it's been all that illuminating." While he was glad they had found out what they had and narrowed the suspect list, they were no closer to discovering any evidence - or even a motive.

"This wasn't my idea. Do the feds expect that the guilty party will like us so much they'll jump up and confess?" Cassy's grin had faded. "At least we've been able to eliminate some suspects who were out of the country at the time of the murders since the profile indicates that the killer is doing it herself and not using a hired hand."

"Neither of us were complaining when Harry assigned us," he reminded her. "But we have made some progress, though our list of suspects needs to be expanded to include some more women." That was the craw that was really eating at Tom. He had been so proud of the leg work he had done on the case early on, but now it appeared it wasn't panning out and they were back at the drawing board. The only suspect on his list that was left was the tennis pro - and _he _clearly wasn't a woman!

Tom opened his eyes as he spoke and seeing his barely tempered frustration Cassy remembered the last time they had worked with an FBI profile. That time too the subject was a woman. She wondered if that was what he was thinking about.

"I'm going to call Harry and tell him what we found," Tom pushed himself away from the table abruptly and limped his way inside.

"Damn," Cassy swore under her breath. Would they ever be free of that woman's damage?

Despite Cassy's earlier concerns, the rest of the day and evening were not only fruitful, but enjoyable. After returning from his call to Harry, Tom was relaxed and playful.

>>>>>

"You look lovely tonight Mrs. Ryan," one of the valets, Brian Taylor the nineteen-year old son of the club's tennis pro and their prime suspect, said to Cassy as she and Tom waited for their car to be driven up. Cassy had felt an immediate liking for the young boy when they had been introduced the day before. He was a college student at U of Miami who was studying psychology and was working at the Club for the summer. Despite the rumored hard childhood he had endured, he seemed a rather well adjusted kid. Having her own family fall apart at a young age herself, Cassy knew how difficult that could be.

"Thank you, Brian." Cassy smiled in genuine appreciation of the compliment.

"If you weren't a married woman..." he winked at her and cast a sly glance at Tom who stood on her other side.

"Watch it young man, she's mine," Tom placed his hand on his wife's shoulder. "I don't like to share."

"Then you'd best treat me right or Brian might just steal me away." Cassy elbowed Tom lightly, her grin matching his.

"She's right, or I might just slip my way past you," Brian warned, a twinkle in his eyes.

"So, young Brian might steal the older woman away from me," Tom teased as they drove away from the club. "I guess I'll have to watch it."

"Older woman!" Cassy glared at him. "I"m not that old!"

"You might not be that old, but if he were any younger he could be our son," Tom snorted, his eyes on the road.

Cassy's grin faded and she looked away. "I know he's just being polite, Tom," she said to cover her unwelcome and unexpected, distress. Ever since that question the other night she'd had this knot in her chest. She hadn't always wanted children out of fear that she would be like her own mother, but she had defeated most of those fears in the past couple of years and now...now her time was running out.

Unless she accepted Brett's proposal.

She wasn't sure why she hadn't accepted it already. He was perfect. Charming, handsome, kind, strong, intelligent, and a doctor, for goodness sakes. Not to mention rich. Everything she wanted in a husband. Or so Evelyn told her she did.

"I didn't mean anything by it," Tom said. "He's right, you look lovely tonight and I'm sure he'd more than happy to take you off my hands."

"Tom, I am old compared to him," she said, wistfully.

Tom didn't reply, just shot Cassy a quick, worried look before looking back at the road.

>>>>>

"Speaking of old," Tom thought to himself as he pushed his tired body up the stairs to his room. Thank goodness Cassy hadn't wanted to do a Salsa dance tonight! "You're no three sport man these days, Ryan," he chided himself.

"But you looked good trying!" Cassy said as she passed him and flounced to her room.

"Great," Tom paused and watched her door close before finishing the last few steps.

"Tom," Cassy called him.

"If you're going to rag on me," Tom began to say as he opened her door and entered her room.

"Someone was here," Cassy's serious tone interjected. She was pointing to a bundle of flowers that were lying on her bed. They were obviously fresh picked from the garden behind the house.

"Those are for you," Tom said, his brow smoothing out.

"I got that, but from whom?" she took a leery step forward, her gun tightly in her grasp, the purse from which it was drawn tossed by the wall and out of the way.

"From me, Cass. I didn't mean to scare you." He put his hand on her bare shoulder.

"You?" Cassy's arms dropped and she looked at him in confusion.

"I had Sam drop them off," he explained.

"Don't tell me, in his aging pool boy outfit," Cassy said, looking curiously at her partner. "Why?"

"He needed to drop off some files from Harry and...well...I wanted to surprise you. Not scare you, but make you smile," he said, his finger reaching up to brush over her lips.

"Why?" she asked, again.

"Because without you the past few months I would have been lost," he said.

"I doubt that." Cassy looked away, but she didn't pull away as his arm slid down her back and wrapped around her waist.

"For a lot longer than the past few months, actually," Tom whispered in her ear before leaning down and brushing his lips down her neck.

Cassy's eyes closed as she swayed back so her side was pressed against him.

"We shouldn't," she said.

"Don't marry him," he pleaded, pressing his lips against her hair.

"What?" her eyes opened. "How did you know?"

""If you wanted it, you wouldn't hesitate," Tom whispered before turning and walking out the door.

Cassy took a deep breath as the door closed behind him. She stood immobile for a moment before checking to make sure the safety was set on her gun, putting it on the bedside stand and lifting up the flowers.

She brought them up to her face and sniffed them. A large smile spread across her face.

End Part 5


	6. Chapter 6

Part 6

Cassy knew she was being courted.

She was frightened by her susceptability to Tom's charms. They had come so close to losing each other last time. She could see now it was over trivial stuff, but at the time their problems seemed insurmountable. But there was no guarantee that they would be able to see past the growing pains again and make a relationship work. Even as just partners and friends they were still at each other's throats about dumb things.

Was she still secretly waiting for the fairy tale?

Wasn't that what she had with Brett? Nary a disagreeable word passed between them. Cassy didn't feel as if her personal autonomy or space was threatened by his presence in her life or home. Was that because deep down they knew it really wasn't permanent? Or because there wasn't the same passion and intellectual synergy as she and Tom have always had? Or was it because they were suited for each other?

Cassy wasn't sure, but what she couldn't deny, as she sniffed the flowers Tom surprised her with, was that she felt a curl of anticipation, even as she tried to temper it with the theory that Tom was just rebounding from Virginia.

So before she would decide whether she would marry Brett, Cassy knew she needed to work these feelings about Tom out now. Otherwise, their partnership might not survive her marriage.

Another week had passed and Tom and Cassy were no closer to clearing the case. Harry, even more than the two detectives who were actually enjoying the high life, was getting ready to cancel the undercover operation. It only was the pressure of the FBI who was convinced that the killer would eventually reveal herself that stopped him.

Over the past week the FBI had planted their own undercover agents. Two men, one of whom was picked to be the decoy. That meant he had to pretend to seduce Tom's "wife." He didn't have to feign his jealousy and anger, Tom thought ruefully to himself as he watched Cassy meld herself to the attractive agent.

Jason Tollen, or "JT" as Cassy and only Cassy had taken to calling him, was pretending to be a surgeon who had just transferred to Florida to rid himself forever of the brutal winters in Montana. A doctor. Tom couldn't help but wonder if the choice of professions was deliberately chosen to torment him. If he hadn't seen Cassy's haunted look, quickly hidden of course, he might have suspected she had picked it herself. Doctor Brett was still haunting them.

Since the night he had left her the flowers, Cassy had been alternately hot and cold with him. One moment she was warming to his advances, the next she was backing off. He knew she hadn't given the doctor an answer to his proposal and Tom had purposefully refrained from bringing up the subject as he continued his relentless pursuit of her for himself. One thing Cassy hadn't shied away from were there intimate evenings in the pool or the hot tub. The hot tub had started the night he had left her the flowers.

_"I have a cure for what ails you." He had turned to see Cassy standing seductively in his bedroom door clad only in a red bikini._

_"Yeah?" he had rasped out as he took her in._

_"Come with me." She smiled and turned away._

_Like a man under a spell he followed her right to the hot tub, which was set in a secluded area away from the pool. Playing on the radio was one of his favorite country tunes and a bottle of chilled white was ready to pour. Cassy already had bathing trunks waiting for him, which she must have snatched while he was in the shower._

_Smiling slightly at his dumbfounded and hopeful expression Cassy slid her hands under the towel adorning his hips and slid it to the ground._

_Tom never knew that being dressed by a woman could be even more erotic than being undressed._

Tom's hand tightened around a glass of water as he watched her pretend to be seduced by the handsome doctor in front of her husband. It took all of his self control not to walk onto the dance floor and take the guy apart.

He bet that Harry would get another report on what a good actor he was.

It was almost funny.

But, not quite.

With a frustrated grimace Tom wrenched his gaze away from the dance floor. As his gaze sifted through the crowd committed to conspicuous consumption he spied a movement in the dark doorway leading from the kitchen area. Curious, Tom stood up and made his way around the dance floor to get a better look.

As the light shifted and the shadows lifted Tom's eyes narrowed.

He was watching her again.

Tom had teased Cassy about the obvious crush Brian Taylor had on her, but the look on Brian's face as he watched Cassy dance with the FBI agent wasn't adoring. It was troubled. Too troubled for a nineteen year old boy who had a crush on an older, married woman to have as he looked at her dance with a man that wasn't her husband. It might be the kind of look that someone might have, say, if they had deep-seeded disapproval of infidelity.

And the boy's movements matched the killer's.

>>>>>>>

"He's practically an innocent," Cassy said when Tom told her his new suspicions.

"No nineteen year old boy is an innocent. Especially not one who has older, rich woman salivating after him and stuffing money down his pants," Tom said wryly.

"You make it sound like a strip club. I've spoken with Brian, I would know if he was a killer. You do realize he would have been, what, twelve when the killings first started," Cassy said as she opened the door to the house and walked inside.

"Fourteen," Tom corrected.

"The profile said it was a woman," Cassy said.

"Profiles have been known to be wrong," Tom said.

"Rarely," Cassy said as she pulled her high-heeled shoes off.

"He was watching you and he wasn't salivating. I know what I saw. He was very intent on watching you with your supposed lover." Tom flipped his tie and coat over his shoulder.

"So was the rest of the room. That's the point." Cassy turned and began to tread up the stairs.

"And you were loving every minute of it!" Tom said, accusingly.

"Cut the act Tom." Cassy turned around with a laugh and looked at Tom who was still standing at the bottom. "Wait a minute, you're not acting. You're jealous. You're really jealous. Tom it's an act!"

"I'm not jealous." Tom flushed.

"Yes, you, are." Cassy said each word as she moved down another step closer to him.

"I'm not." Tom grabbed Cassy's hand before she could touch his face.

"Yes, you are." Cassy pressed.

"That's ridiculous," Tom denied, not meeting her eyes.

"Tom, you're getting carried away. We're not really married and I'm not really having an affair," Cassy said.

"I know it's ridiculous, but it feels that way, all right! Am I entitled to have my feelings or do I need your permission for that too?" Tom threw her hand back at her and turned and stormed out to the backyard.

"Shit," Cassy whispered as she watched him. She stood there for a moment before following in his wake and bending to lift up his sports coat and tie. She smoothed them over her arm as she stared into the darkness out the glass wall into the gardens where Tom had disappeared.

With a sigh she turned and went upstairs, deciding to leave him alone to cool down. They had been here before, right before they had begun dating. They couldn't afford to screw it up this time. But Cassy couldn't see how they couldn't. If Tom was determined that they get together it was inevitable. Either they would get together and rediscover their incompatibility or they wouldn't and he would resent her.

Why couldn't he just leave things as they were? They loved each other, they always would. But they had more as partners and friends, more time together, more trust, more respect, just...more, than when they were married.

Really married.

It might be fake, Cassy thought as she closed Tom's door behind her and headed for her room, but Tom was just as jealous. And she was touched by it.

End Part 6


	7. Chapter 7

Part 7

Sometime during her overlong shower Tom had come upstairs, changed, and gone down to the pool. As they had every night for all the time they had been in this house she could hear his even, angry, strokes in the pool below her window as she sat on her bed wrapped in her robe.

She could pretend that nothing had happened and join him, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Her bathing suit, the red one she knew he liked, was clenched in her fist but she couldn't bring herself to put it on. Cassy, the woman cop who feared nothing was afraid and for once she was admitting it.

She was afraid to go downstairs and look in Tom's eyes and have him see in hers. She didn't have the strength to hide her feelings anymore. Or to resist them. But it would be a mistake. The biggest mistake she had ever made. If she went to Tom now it would only mean she would lose him eventually.

She had managed to convince herself that Tom's reactions lately meant he was healing from Virginia's damage and would soon be his old self. He would, she had told herself, realize this was just rebound and that taking this any further would ruin both their friendship and partnership. This time for good. So she had done nothing, tempted as she was.

>>>>>

Tom pulled himself out of the water and heaved a breath as he grabbed his towel and rubbed the moisture from his body. A mysterious smile flitted across his lips as he admitted that his furious laps had eased only some of the tension that flooded his body.

My wife.

The smile turned into a full fledged laugh.

Divorced for what, three years now? Four? And he still dared to think of her as his wife. Not too long ago he was to marry another and now she was thinking on another's proposal. A good man. A man who could give her the safety she needed, not another cop who might not come home one night. A man whose biggest danger was the nurses who worshiped the ground he walked on, but who could never hold a candle to Cassandra St. John.

But she was his and he wasn't about to let her go.

>>>>>>

Cassy heard Tom's steps coming down the hall and half stood when she realized they had stopped outside her door. When he knocked, she sat back down, frozen.

After perfunctory knock, Tom opened the door and walked towards her. His eyes held hers, leaving them only to glance at the red bathing suit lying at her feet.

Unconsciously, Cassy pulled the lapels of her robe closer together. Looking at Tom's wet, bare body she wished she had made the effort to dress herself.

Tom's towel dropped to lie next to her bathing suit and he sat down next to her.

Cassy bit her tongue to stop from telling him to not sit on the satin bedcover in wet bathing trunks. Tom's lips curved knowingly as he put his hand against her cheek to prevent her from turning away.

"Don't marry him, marry me," Tom said.

"Marry you?" Cassy asked, her eyes wide with shock.

"We belong together," he said.

"As partners, friends," Cassy said hoarsely.

"As partners and friends and lover," he said.

"We aren't compatible, we'd fight all the time," Cassy said.

"We haven't fought since we've been living together this time, until now," Tom said.

"This was just pretend," Cassy said.

"I haven't been pretending," Tom said.

"We haven't even been sleeping in the same room." Cassy stood up and walked a few feet away.

"I let you pick out my sheets." Tom smiled.

"This isn't about sheets. That was just one of our stupid fights. We fought about everything. You know we can't be together that way," Cassy said weakly.

"I know that we were foolish and walked away too quickly, without really committing to it. We didn't know how to be together without being together twenty-four seven. But now we know that being partners isn't enough," Tom said, not moving to follow her.

"It's enough for me," Cassy said.

"Is it? Is that why you haven't accepted the doctor's proposal? Is that why you've cycled through men faster than I cycle through socks since we divorced?" he asked. "Tell me you don't compare all men against me and what we once let ourselves enjoy? I know that I do it. We were married Cass. Married! And you walked out like it was a casual one night stand."

"There was nothing casual about my leaving!" Cassy's face reddened.

"And I let you, because I believed like you that it was easier to walk away than to work out what was wrong," Tom said.

"I left because if I hadn't one of us would have killed the other," Cassy said.

"Like the past few years?" he said.

"That's different," she said.

"Why? Because we don't admit how we feel? Or show it? Because we use other people to fill in the empty spaces?" he asked.

"Dammit, Tom! What do you want me to say?" she demanded.

"That you love me and you're tired of these games," he said calmly.

"I am tired of these games!" she said.

"And you love me," he said.

"You're just on the rebound," Cassy said.

"From you. Always from you," Tom stood up and walked towards her, his eyes daring her to flee again.

"They'll split us up again," Cassy said in a low voice.

"They'll split up our work partnership, but not us," Tom said.

"Then who will cover your back? Or mine?" she asked.

Tom paused, that was the heart of the matter. Seven months of marriage and for months after their divorce full of worry about who was covering the other's back in the field.

"Check," Tom said wryly.

"Checkmate," Cassy said.

"The queen might find a solution, yet," Tom promised leaning down and pressing a kiss against her cheek before quietly leaving her room.

Cassy closed her eyes and expelled the breath she had been holding.

End Part 7


	8. Chapter 8

Part 8

There was little else in this life that Cassy held dear over her self-respect, but lately she was holding onto very little of the precious commodity. As much as she would like to, she wasn't able to fool herself and pretend she wasn't involved in something so very wrong. Even if she had wanted to hide from herself, the ironic situation in which she found herself did nothing if it didn't underscore her behavior. And her confusion.

Cassy was no stranger to being shunned. She had been Internal Affairs, she had divorced one of the department's most beloved cops and she was a woman doing what many believed was a man's job. It was being welcomed with open arms that unnerved her, disgusted her even, especially as the reason for the warm welcome was that she was thought to be cheating on her husband. That, not her skill or intelligence, made her acceptable to members of the self-appointed elite ladies who spent days taking lessons and sauna at the clubs while their wealthy husbands worked or pursued their own iniquitous interests elsewhere. In other words, her mother Evelyn's type of people.

What made it all the more ironic was that she really was being unfaithful, to Brett her boyfriend with her so-called husband. The man who proposed to her and who she hadn't yet given an answer. She didn't know whether to be relieved or frustrated that they were no closer to catching their killer than they were almost four weeks ago when they went on this case. Once this cover was over she would have to deliver that answer. She truly didn't know what she should say. Heart or head?

If this had been a solely PBPD case they would have been removed from their cover a long time ago, but the FBI was pushing hard on this one - the murder of rich women at country clubs didn't make for good press or garner congressional support from congress members who belonged to ritzy clubs themselves.

With an agitated sigh, Cassy pressed a button on the keyboard of her laptop computer. More than a dozen times that morning she had sifted through the rolls of employees and members of the various clubs, and nearby clubs, looking for something that might lead them to the identity of their killer. After three solid hours in front of the screen a headache was beginning to form behind her eyes. She needed a break to clear her head, maybe a fresh perspective would let her get at this from a different angle. Closing her eyes and rubbing her brow Cassy switched off her screen and pushed away from the desk in the office she and Tom had set up as their own.

The only thing Cassy was grateful for this morning was that Tom was at the club playing the cuckolded-but-oblivious-husband.

One thing Cassy had no issue with was the fact that this house had a private pool. Taking only a few minutes to change, Cassy reappeared clad in a bikini and a pair of sunglasses as she moved with lazy determination towards the pool. She was just about to dive in when the door chimes sounded. Scowling she stopped, picked up her gun under a towel and moved to answer it.

"Brian, come in. I wasn't expecting anyone," Cassy said brightly a few moments later as she let the young son of the tennis pro inside. Unobtrusively she put the safety to the gun on and slipped it back under the towel and placed both on the table by the door.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Ryan. I know I should have called first. I didn't mean to disturb your swim." Brian's cheeks flushed and he wasn't able to look Cassy in the eyes.

"First of all, call me Cassy. Secondly, I said you were welcome here anytime and I meant it. Would you like a drink? A cola? Juice?" she turned and led him to the kitchen as she wondered why he was there.

"A beer?" he asked, hopefully.

"How old are you? Did you drive here?" Cassy asked with a chuckle as she and pulled out a can of cola and tossed it to him without waiting for the answer to emerge from his sheepish face.

"Thanks," Brian said politely before turning to gaze out the glass doors to the pool area where it looked as if Cassy had been lounging the morning away just minutes ago.

"How about a swim?" she asked from behind him, her easy smile gone now that he wasn't looking and in its place a curious expression. Why was he here, she wondered as she put her hand on his shoulder. By the time he turned to look at her, her smile was back in place.

"Do you want to go for a swim?" she repeated as she brushed past him and walked outside ahead of him.

"If you want to." He smiled, his eyes skimming her scantily clad figure as his fingers fidgeted with the soda can tab.

"Do you want to talk instead?" Cassy tilted her and head and looked up at him.

"Can we just, um, sit for a while?" he asked quickly before taking a sip of his soda, as if his throat was suddenly dry.

"Sure," Cassy agreed and sat down on her lounger. Patting the one next to it she smiled up at him.

Brian swallowed nervously before he nodded and walked stiffly over to the lounger. He sat where she had indicated, his legs only centimeters from hers.

"Are you in trouble Brian?" Cassy asked gently.

"N...no. I'm not in trouble," he stumbled over his words.

"It's okay if you are. I want to help you," she took his hand in hers, quelling his fidgeting and forcing him to look her in the eyes.

"I came to warn you," he said in a sudden burst of speech.

"Warn me?" Cassy's fingers tightened.

"Your, uh, behavior, with that man. Things happen to women who behave like that. Bad things," he said.

"Like what happened a few weeks ago?" Cassy's eyes darted to her gun and back to his face. "Do you know who's doing that? Is you Brian? I can help you."

"No!" He was up like a shot and moving backwards.

"I can help you." Cassy stood up slowly so as not to startle him.

"It's not me. I'm just trying to warn you," he was backing away.

"Warn her about what?" Tom asked, coming out of the house behind Brian.

"Nothing." Brian tried to run around Tom, but the older, stronger man grabbed him.

"What's going on here Cass?" he asked.

"I just wanted to warn her. Please let me go!" Brian pleaded.

"Do you know who's doing this?" Cassy eased Tom's hands from the boy's arms and held him in place.

"No. I don't know anything. I was just warning you," he swore.

"You've seen this before son, we know you have. Is it your father?" Tom asked.

"No!" Brian struggled out of Cassy's weak grasp.

"Wait!" Tom ordered.

"Let him go Tom," Cassy said in a low voice as Brian bolted out of the house.

"He knows something," Tom said angrily.

"And he's not going to tell us if we scare him. You might just have tipped him off to who we are." She turned on Tom, her annoyance palpable. "I might have gotten him to tell me something if he trusted me."

"He was threatening you." Tom crossed his arms.

"He was warning me. I believe that. I think he may know who it is, but he's obviously trying to protect them. We can't force him to talk," she reminded him.

"Then why is he warning you? Because you entertain the kid wearing that?" Tom motioned at her bright yellow bikini.

"I was taking a break when he came in." Cassy's eyes flashed as she looked up at him.

"For a moment there I thought you might be intending to seduce the boy into talking," Tom said.

"What's gotten into you?" Cassy asked.

"Sorry." Tom closed his eyes with a sigh. "I'm a bit annoyed with being treated like a cuckholded husband. You should have seen everyone's faces when your supposed lover came in."

"You're a frustrated artist, pretend this is another play like the one you did in college." Cassy tapped him on the arm teasingly.

"That was because I lost a bet," Tom glared.

"But I bet you were good. You looked cute in the pictures your Dad showed me." Cassy pinched his cheek.

Tom grabbed her hand and kissed her palm, his eyes suddenly burning with a different kind of heat as his eyes caressed her.

"Tom." Cassy sounded breathless.

"I'm tired of being the cuckold," Tom whispered huskily as he tugged her flush against him and then trapped her with his arms. "Comfort my bruised ego."

"Oh brother." Cassy rolled her eyes and tried to wriggle out of his grasp. Her motions only brought her more fully against him.

Tom bent his head and buried his face in her hair and ran his hands over her body.

"Tom," Cassy's protest was weak and Tom paid it no mind as he trailed his kisses down her face and neck.

"We have company," he growled near her ear.

"What?" Cassy froze, but didn't pull away.

"Andy and Meghan missed you today and wanted to come home for lunch with me. They came in when Brian ran out. They're watching us, which I suspect is why they're here," he explained, smiling down at her falsely.

Cassy pushed Tom away, pretending she was angry and disgusted, rather than just acutely embarrassed.

"I'll have lunch delivered while you get dressed for our guests," Tom hissed at her, his sympathetic eyes belying his tone.

Cassy snapped the towel around her body and made a hasty retreat into the house through another door, leaving Tom to entertain their guests while she changed, and hid the files she had left lying about the den, just in case.

>>>>>

"I think you've had enough to drink, dear," Cassy's teeth were clenched underneath her smile.

"You know, they say the first year of marriage is the hardest. Many couples don't even make it that long," Tom waved his glass around to punctuate his statements. "But I think that Cassy would say that the second year is even harder, wouldn't you, dear."

"Tom," Cassy hissed.

"Come on. We're all friends. I think that Meghan and Andy can benefit from our experience. You know why Cassy married me? My money, my looks, and the lifestyle I could afford her. Don't make that mistake, it's no foundation for a marriage," Tom finished his glass of wine.

"I think that's enough," Cassy stood up and took her and Tom's plate into the kitchen.

"I think we'd better be going," Andy said, sounding uncomfortable.

"Perhaps you'd better, the missus is going to ream me out about now," Tom said bitterly.

"Tom, you and Cassy make a beautiful couple. I'm sure everything can work out if you both try." Meghan took Andy's hand and stood up next to him.

Tom's sloppy behavior ceased the moment the door closed behind him. In the place of his bitter smile was a somber look as he walked into the kitchen where Cassy was still slamming around the dishes.

"Cass..."

"What were you trying to accomplish with that display? Was that your version of advice to me?" Cassy spun around and demanded.

"You know I didn't mean anything by it," Tom said.

"It sure came easy to the tongue," Cassy's words were affected by the Texas accent she had left behind a long time ago.

"A few days before the last murder there was a confrontation between Mr. and Mrs. Blant about her extracurricular activities. I heard talk about it in the men's locker room today. I was urged to put you in your place too. Nothing else worked, I thought maybe this would set the killer off," Tom explained.

"And our pals are on their way back to the club to spread the story." Cassy wiped her hand on a towel and scowled at him. "I think I'll go to the club and try and find Brian and see what the talk is like."

"Cass." Tom put his hands on her shoulder, his face apologetic.

"I know, you're sorry. You don't have to be," Cassy said before moving out of his reach.

"I'll see you for dinner," Tom called after her, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

End Part 8


	9. Chapter 9

Part 9

"Yes, Harry," Tom repeated for the fifth time in the five minutes since he had called his superior at the Palm Beach Police Department. He turned on his heel and paced back the way he came.

"I know, I know. She's there right now looking for the kid. When I came home, in, he was warning her to be careful," Tom said into the phone.

"He's scared. It's probably the father," Tom said, spun around, tugged at his collar, then continued pacing. "I know, Harry. I know, a few more days. My brilliant idea, I know." Tom raked his fingers through his hair. Their superior wasn't happy about having his best detective team out of the field for so long on what he was now calling an FBI goose chase and he was taking his displeasure out on Tom.

"No, we haven't killed each other. I don't know if she's accepted his proposal, I don't think she has." Tom wasn't as relieved as he should have been by the change of topic. "I can hardly give her credible advice now can I?" Tom said with a bitter twist in his voice and stopped pacing to stare down at the desk. "I'll let her know," Tom said before pressing the phone off and putting it down. With a frustrated groan Tom raked both hands through his hair and lifted his hands over his head and stretched his sore back.

With a sigh he squinted at the clock. Three more hours before he could show up at the club for dinner. Meanwhile, Cassy was at the club possibly confronting an unstable killer. Tom lifted up the phone again and made a call. This time to the FBI.

>>>>>>

"There's no one there."

Cassy spun around to face the woman who had come up behind her.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. I'm Peggy Joelle. There's no one home. Wayne is off today and I haven't seen Brian since this morning," the older woman told her.

"Thanks. I wanted to see if Wayne had an opening tomorrow. My backhand is horrendous," Cassy lied.

"I wouldn't let it bother you," Peggy said in a lower tone, as she pushed her short dark hair behind her ear.

"My backhand?" Cassy tilted her head curiously.

"The gossip. Most of these women don't have husbands who don't care who they sleep with, they're jealous that your husband is obviously jealous. Especially since most of them want him for themselves," Peggy said.

Cassy's eyes widened in surprise at the woman's candor. "It doesn't bother me," Cassy said, but even she didn't believe it.

"It'll pass, it always does. There's always something new, someone new to gossip about," Peggy said sympathetically.

"If you don't mind my asking, why are you a member here?" Cassy asked.

"My husband loves the golf course. I do a lot of volunteer work so I don't have to be here all that much. Plus, my husband is richer than most of the others so they don't gossip about me much," Peggy said with a cynical smile.

"Do a lot of women here, um..." Cassy paused leadingly.

"Cheat. Yes," Peggy didn't seem bothered by the question. "Though it doesn't always have such satisfying results."

Cassy observed the haunted look that entered the elegant woman's eyes.

"The murder that happened here a few weeks ago, I've heard rumors," Cassy said. "I've heard that the husband wasn't too thrilled about his wife's infidelity either."

"It was a terrible thing. The Blants do love each other, but he is an older man who indulges his young wife. He was upset that she seemed to adore her late lover too much," Peggy said.

"You don't think the husband..."

"No. Never. I wish the police would get whoever did do this," Peggy shivered and looked around the darkening gardens. "It happened right at that tree."

Cassy looked over towards the king palm that stood innocently only fifty yards away from the tennis pro's cottage. She looked at it speculatively, then back at the cottage. "Perhaps we should go back inside, it's getting dark." Cassy feigned fear and put her hand on the other woman's elbow and began to lead her back towards the club house.

"Yes. It's time to change for dinner. You must sit at my table tonight. If I show you support they'll leave you alone," Peggy offered.

"We'd love to," Cassy agreed.

>>>>>>>

"A what? Dammit." Tom dropped his tie onto the bed, his eyes widening as he listened to whoever was on the other line. After a few moments he dropped the phone onto the bed and grabbed the tie and his jacket and bolted out the door.

>>>>>>

"Tom will be along shortly, some business held him up," Cassy smiled falsely at her dining companions, inside she was cursing her "husband." Tom was hour late. Her "lover" was right on time and dining at a nearby table. Whether Tom showed up or not, she had an assignation.

>>>>>>

"Why didn't we find this before?" Tom demanded of the FBI agent in charge, while agents milled around them. Some were on the telephone, others on computers. They were obviously in the middle of a law enforcement command post.

"The records were missing." The agent explained, not quite meeting Tom's glare. "We're doing all we can to find her," the agent said.

"I'm going to get to the Club, she'll probably show up there." Tom's mouth was a grim line now. Tom was sure it was only chance that the women hadn't been killed when their lovers were shot. They might not get so lucky this time.

"We have the place surrounded," the agent assured him.

"I need to be there to back up my partner," Tom told him.

>>>>>>>

"Did you see everyone staring at me us?" Cassy said with a dramatic shudder

"It's just because you're so beautiful." JT winked down at her.

"It's because they have nothing to do other than gossip," Cassy said waspishly as she and JT walked through the darkened gardens to pretend they were having a tryst and wait for the killer. The anticipation of doing _that_ was unnerving. The tryst, not the killer.

"You're so tense," JT remarked as he put his arm around Cassy's waist.

"I haven't worked vice in years," Cassy sighed.

"It's like riding a bike," JT promised, nuzzling her hair, barely suppressing a chuckle.

Cassy sighed softly and ran her hand along JT's side, making sure he was wearing a kevlar vest.

>>>>>>>

Tom was the first into the house where they found Brian Taylor standing with false bravado, tears shimmering in his eyes.

"Where is she?" Tom asked quietly as he approached the boy.

Harry came in behind them and quieted the agents and officers on the joint detail.

"I don't have to tell you anything," Brian's chin lifted defiantly. Then his eyes narrowed. "Are you a cop or something?"

"Yes, I am. And so is Cassy, we're trying to prevent another death and I think that you know who has been doing it," Tom said. "Protecting your sister isn't helping her and more people are going to get hurt if she doesn't get the help she needs."

"They can't help her! They just want to drug her and lock her in a room. I'm supposed to take care of her." Brian resisted Tom's grasp. "You can't make me!"

"You like Cassy, you tried to warn her. What if your sister misses this time and hurts her too? You don't want her to be responsible for more of this," Tom said.

"I warned her. I told her she had to stop," Brian insisted.

"Where is your father?" Tom asked.

"He doesn't have anything to do with this, he doesn't know anything. He just knows she's escaped again," Brian cried out.

"You shouldn't have to keep this secret Brian. Tell us where she is before someone else gets hurt. If you don't tell us what we need to know to stop her you're an accomplice." Harry came up behind Tom.

Brian looked at the two men searchingly, then his shoulders sagged under the weight he had been carrying.

"I don't know where she is. She was here, but then she left," Brian said tiredly, looking at his feet.

"Was she armed?" Harry asked.

"I...don't know. Our dad doesn't keep guns anymore, I don't know where she gets them. On the streets after she escapes probably."

"Agent Tilson will take you to call your father, he's out with the searchers isn't he?" Tom confirmed before sending the boy off with the female agent.

"Everyone fan out, she's probably around her somewhere," Harry ordered. "You stay hidden."

"Harry..." Tom began to object.

"She won't come out if she sees you. Get inside the Club and look for your wife," Harry held his hand up.

"I'll be looking for her in the gardens," Tom said before turning and leaving.

"Anyone got an Alka Seltzer?" Harry looked around.

End Part 9


	10. Chapter 10

Nobody knows it but you've got a secret smile  
And you use it only for me  
Nobody knows it but you've got a secret smile  
And you use it only for me  
_Secret Smile, Semisonic_

Part 10

"This is a good spot, we can be seen from here and still seem as if we're hiding," J.T. whispered in Cassy's ear, as if he was delivering sweet nothing.

Cassy's hand slid over J.T.'s waist, skimming his vest.

"I love it when you do that," he teased quietly as he nipped her ear.

Cassy closed her eyes and let her head drop back as if she was enjoying her lover's ministrations. In fact she was listening carefully for any sound of movement around. Or a gun being fired.

J.T. was listening for the same sounds as his hands cupped Cassy's shoulders and his lips teased hers.

The painstaking attention to detail made their lovemaking seem all the more convincing. Pounding hearts and quick breaths didn't need to be feigned.

"Sorry," J.T. whispered as his hand slid down and cupped her breast, his fingers brushing over its point.

Cassy slid her hand into his dark hair and seemed to deepen their kiss.

"Like riding a bike," J.T. said huskily.

"You're one of the better Johns I've had to deal with," Cassy whispered in his ear before taking a bite, a little too hard when he bent to kiss her cleavage.

J.T. growled and slid his hand up her leg up to where she had her gun strapped to her thigh.

"Naughty," he murmured low enough only for her to hear as his fingers tapped the cold metal.

'PING'

'PING'

"Stop that," Cassy hissed a split second before they both realized the second sound hadn't come from between her legs.

>>>>>>

They had to be here somewhere.

The head of security at the Club confirmed that one of his men's guns was missing.

_She_ had to be here somewhere.

Cassy wasn't wearing a vest underneath her dress, their cover didn't allow that. None of the women had been hit before, but that's not to say it couldn't happen this time. Especially since Brian had indicated that this sister was none to pleased that he had tried to stop her from hurting this woman.

Having a crush on Cassy always had all these unintended consequences. Tom could vouch for that.

Then he saw something move up ahead. He motioned for the officer with him to stop as he moved slowly forward, crouching behind a tree to take a look.

It was her. Even from behind there was no mistaking her. Even as Tom tried to approach her quietly, he saw her arms draw up in front of her, it was then that he saw Cassy and her agent, standing in the clearing. He dove for the girl, but he knew it was too late as the gun went off.

He watched, impotent, as J.T. spun around pushing Cassy to the ground as he whipped out a gun. Cassy's, Tom realized as Cassy lay stunned on the ground.

Tom grabbed the gun from the girl, as the officer who came with him handcuffed the girl who was kicking and screeching in his arms.

Ignoring the other law enforcement officers who were gathering, along with some Club members, their attention caught by the gunshot, Tom made his way to where J.T. was clutching his side and Cassy was sitting up trying to help him.

"I'm fine," J.T. said between uneven breaths. Bullet-proof vests could stop the bullet from entering the body, but they couldn't cushion the body from the velocity and force of the bullet.

Tom nodded and looked Cassy over.

No blood he noted with relief.

Tom helped her stand and was startled when she faltered and he had to move quickly to catch her.

"Where," he asked urgently.

"My ankle. I twisted it when I dove." She smiled at him to let him know she was fine.

Tom sighed in relief and, ignoring her protests, lifted her up in his arms. "Tom, let me down." Cassy's serious, rather than annoyed, tone caught his attention. He turned and saw her gaze trained on Brian Taylor, and his father, watching as their sister and daughter was being restrained. "Let me talk to him," Cassy said.

Tom nodded and put her down, but his arm stayed around her waist.

>>>>>

Tom really hated hospitals. He really, really hated doctors. There had been way too many of both in their lives this year.

This year. Since New Year's. The day he had let Cassy walk out on him, again.

Even with a sprained ankle Tom didn't begin to think that he could stop her from walking away from him again, tonight. Their cover was over, no more living as man and wife. He was going to miss her presence. He dared to think she would miss him too.

He should go home.

Doctor Brett was looking in on her, now. He would probably be taking her home. But Tom had to wait and see for himself. Would she accept the doctor's proposal or would she give him, Tom, hope. Hope that they would figure out how to be together. There were obstacles, their professional partnership being the biggest. Who could they trust to look out for the other but themselves? How could they be together and not be split up by the Department?

Did she even want them to be together? He thought she did, but Cassy didn't always follow her heart out of fear that she would be left. Like her family had done. Like other lovers had.

Brett would never leave her.

Tom might, in the line of duty and without intent. Just as Cassy might leave him. Chris and Rita Lorenzo's lesson weighed heavily on their division.

And Harry. Tom looked over at their superior. Not a word had been said, but Tom had the feeling that Harry knew what was going through his mind, what this cover had become for him - a mission of another sort. Tom averted his eyes, before Harry might be encouraged to come over and tell him that he should go home.

Home. Ha. As if there could be a home with Cassy in it now. This was beginning to seem harder than when they had divorced. He couldn't even put that to lack of sleep, he had slept better the last few weeks than he had in months.

He wondered what she was telling him.

>>>>>>>

"It a mild sprain. You're going to have to stay off of it for a few days, at least," Brett told her, his gray eyes looking serious.

"I know, the other doctor told me." Cassy didn't fidget. "We need to talk."

"You're not going to accept," Brett said, resigned.

"No, I'm not."

"If you were going to you would have done it weeks ago. I knew that, but I had hoped. For a while there I thought we had a chance." He shrugged philosophically, but he couldn't keep the hurt out of his eyes.

Cassy had the grace to look pained. She really did care for him, a great deal. Maybe she just couldn't let herself be happy. That wasn't a new thought.

"If Tom had gotten married," Brett continued.

"This has nothing to do with Tom." While she had found herself in his arms when she had no business being there. But there was no point in hurting Brett with that confession.

"I think it does. You still love him," Brett said, almost charitably.

Cassy looked away at his observation. "It's not that simple. You deserve better than me. Someone who loves you more than I ever could. I'm too flawed for you," Cassy said.

"I want you, not some perfect paragon of virtue who would bore me to death." Brett slipped his fingers into her loose clasp of hands on her lap.

Cassy squeezed and looked up at him. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, tears coming into her eyes. She wasn't ready to let him go yet, but she had to for his sake.

"I'll always love you," Brett leaned down and pressed his lips against hers.

"Don't," Cassy whispered even as her hands slid around his head as she deepened the kiss. The last one.

"You're everything I want, everything I need, I don't know why..."

"He's still waiting for you outside," Brett said.

Cassy watched as he left.

End of Story


End file.
